TCI: BILL WOULD UP CABLE RATES; LOCAL CABLE MANAGER SAYS ADDITIONS TO MEASURE WOULD BE COSTLY

Pending federal legislation aimed at regulating cable television rates is likely to increase cable costs for customers, said a local cable TV official.

Roger Harms, manager of TCI Cablevision of Missouri's Cape Girardeau and Jackson offices, said that based on government and cable TV industry figures, cable customers will pay an additional $2 to $4 per month if the pending "cable bill" is approved.

President George Bush has threatened to veto the measure if it's passed in Congress.

Harms said one provision of the bill would require cable TV companies to negotiate with local broadcast stations for the right to retransmit their signal. He said cable customers would be forced to pay extra to continue to receive network broadcast stations that non-subscribers receive for free.

"We think it's just plain unfair that all cable customers will have to pay extra for programming others watch for free with an antenna," Harms said.

"We charge our customers for the wires and equipment needed to improve reception of the major networks. Now this bill would result in charges for the programming itself programming that is already paid for with billions in advertising dollars and which others see for free."

Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., co-sponsored the Senate's version of the cable bill, which was approved last month in the Senate by a vote of 73-18.

Danforth said in a prepared statement that the decisive vote on the bill is the Senate's response to "the public's anger over high rates and poor service."

He said the bill, described by the Consumer Federation of America as "the most important piece of consumer legislation this year," would promote competition in the cable TV industry and protect consumers.

Danforth said key provisions of the bill include:

Rate regulation is permitted only in the absence of effective competition defined as a community where residents have access to local broadcast programming and to a competing cable provider.

National and regional programmers are barred from unreasonably refusing to deal with distributors.

The bill requires cable TV companies to carry all local broadcasters and limits the discretion of cable systems to shift channel positions. It also requires cable systems to devote up to one-third of their capacity to broadcast stations. One year after enactment, broadcasters would have the right to negotiate for compensation from cable operators who wish to retransmit broadcast signals.

The Federal Communications Commission is directed to establish new technical standards to ensure good quality reception and set customer service standards.

But Harms said the bill has been altered since it was first introduced in Congress. He said the measure now is "cumbersome and expensive."

He cited U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that the cost of administering new regulations contained in the legislation will be $249 million, or 44 percent of the current FCC budget.

The Congressional Budget Office also estimated the federal government will need another $100 million to implement the regulations, and local governments will have to come up with another $8 to $10 million each year, Harms said.

"The cable bill began as a legitimate attempt to set guidelines for basic cable rates," Harms said. "However, as the bill went through the congressional process, the major networks and other special interests pushed through amendments which took it out of the realm of consumer protection.

"What's left of the cable bill is a bonanza for these special interests at the expense of the nation's cable customers. It will raise rates, not lower them."

TCI's national headquarters hired economist Carl Ellis Hunt to examine the effects of the cable bill on cable rates, Harms said. Hunt's preliminary study predicted the legislation now pending would cost America's cable customers more than $4 per month.

"What started out with good intentions has evolved into poorly written, cumbersome legislation that will raise cable rates, not lower them," said Harms.